So it'll all boil down to whether and to what extent Germany would tax my scholarship -- which doesn't seem to be very likely. I understand...

Thank you very much!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AtlantaTaxExpert

Most countries do NOT tax scholarships unless they represents payments beyond the normal tuition, fees and living costs.

Example: Someone who gets several different scholarships that they receive in cash to pay for their costs, and the total of the scholarships exceed the tuition, fees and boarding costs at the university. In that case, the excess is taxable income.

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That is the gist of it.

A late-comer question, in case anybody reads this:

The consensus of this thread seems to be that Germans who are in the US as J1-scholars can claim tax exemption for two years, but will have to declare their income in Germany in this situation. This can be beneficial in case of scholarships which are not taxable in Germany.

Does anybody happen to know if that applies to teaching/research fellowships as well? I'm postdoc at CMU In Pittsburgh. The job title on the offer letter is "postdoctoral fellow", and I'm receiving a salary that comes from a MURI grant, but is managed by the University.

My guess is that my income is probably not tax free in Germany already since it's called a "salary" and not "stipend", but I'm no legal expert at all.

Does anybody happen to know more? Any input appreciated.

Thanks!

J

If you are getting a W-2 for the fellowship, then it is a "salary" and you will have to pay taxes to someone, be it the U.S. or Germany.

Wow thanks for the quick reply, AtlantaTaxExpert. I got a W-2, so that should settle it.


For any other German grad students or postdocs who might come across this thread, the following wiki page of the DFG seems very relevant:


Steuern USA – DFG-Wiki


It says that whether income is tax free in Germany is determined by the "income code" . Income code 16 is for stipends and scholarships and is tax free in Germany.


But I called the CMU payroll department this morning, and they couldn't tell me my income code for sure, though they said it's probably 18 or 19.